Curtain tie-back mechanism



Dec. 24, 1957 G. T. CAVAGE 2,817,400

CURTAIN TIE-BACK MECHANISM Filed Dec. 15, 1954 i 1 INVENTOR.

G[0/PG [634K465 United States PateiitO 2,817,400 CURTAIN TIE-BACK MECHANISM George T. Cavage, Philadelphia, Pa. Application December 15, 1954,-Serial No. 475,346

3 Claims. (Cl. 160-349) I This invention relates to curtain tie-backs,and particularly to a novel tie-back mechanism for holding the curtain against the window casing in a draped manner.

In the hanging of curtains and draperies in the average private dwelling, it is the customary practice to gather the curtain or drape within a looped tie-back and then securely anchor the tie-back to the window casing by means of a tie-back pin. Such a pin ordinarily resembles a conventional thumbtack, but is slightly larger, and performs its holding function by merely piercing the tie-back and window casing. While this may be a simple expedient, it

has the distasteful disadvantage of marring; the casing with a multiplicity of'holes resulting from the successive insertion of thet tie-back pin thereinto. Needless to say, this permanent disfigurement of the window casing is highly undesirable.

With the above condition in mind, it is anobject of the present invention to provide a novel tie-back device for curtains and draperies. 7

It is another object of this invention to provide a tieback device for anchoring curtains and draperies to a window casing without marring the casing woodwork.

It is a further objectof this invention to provide a tieback device which may be permanentlyattached to the window casingand which may receive the tie-back pin in lieu of inserting the pin into the casing.

It is still another object of the present inventionto provide a tie-back device in which the tie-back pin may be anchored in any one of 'avariety of vertical positions so as to present varying drape etfects of the curtain or drape.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a tie-back device having a novel tie-back pin cooperating therewith so as to be retained within the device in locked fashion.

These objects, together with other objects and advantages to be derived from the present invention, will become apparent by reference to the following description of the invention and to the accompanying drawings wherein similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Figure l is a perspective view of a fragmentary portion of a window casing and drapery showing the manner in which the tie-back device of the present invention is used to anchor the tie-back to the casing.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the present tie-back device.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the tie-back device taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, illustrating the internal structure thereof for achieving a locking action with the tie-back pin, and showing the tie-back pin in exploded relationship therewith.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the tie-back device, with parts broken away, taken along the line 44 of Fig. 3, illustrating the ridged inner surface of the device for holding the tie-back pin in its selected vertical position therewithin.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the device, with parts broken away, taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, show- 2,817,400 Patented Dec. 24, 1957 ice 2 ing the ridged inner surface'of Fig. 4 as viewed from the top.

Figure 6 is an end elevationalview of 1a modified form of the tie-back device of the present invention.

Figure 7 is'a sectional view of the modified tie-back device,ftaken along the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings for a more detailed description of the present invention, and particularly to Fig. *1 thereof, 10 designatesga conventional wooden window casing from'which is hung remain 11. The curtain 11 is provided with a tie-back 12 in the form of a looped strip'of fabric, through which loopthe lower portion of the curtain 11 passes in draped fashion. The tie-back 12 is pulled back adjacent to the side edge 13 of the casing 10, andis'anchored thereto by means of a tie-backpin 14 which'engages a tie-back bracket 15 which is permanentlyattached to the casing 10. I

Looking now at Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the tie-back bracket 15is made from asingle sheet of mater ial, preferably a resilient metallic "material such as sheet metal" or the. like, and is bent to the form depicted in 2 and shown in cross-section in Fig. 3; As shown therein, the tie-back bracket-15 consists of an essentially U-shaped 'rnember having aclosed end 16 and external parallel walls '17 and 18. Integral with the wall 18 and extending "longitudinally beyond the edge thereof is a pair of opposed fastening tabs 19 and 20 each having its end portions 21 and 22 bent at right angles thereto. The end portions 21 and Rare provided with apertures 23 and 24 fora purpose to be described below. 7 V V Integral with the external walls 17 and 18, and ex; tending inwardly into the bracket-between the said walls 17 and 1 8, are a pair of retaining walls 25 and 26 which are adapted tosecurely hold a tie-back-pin, as shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the retaining walls 25 and 26 are substantially parallel to the external walls 17 and 18 and are provided with opposedbo wed portions 27 and 28 for a purpose to be described below.

Turning now to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the internal surfaces of the retaining walls 25 and 26 adjacent to the bracket opening are provided with a plurality of closely'spaced indentations 29, which indentations are in'opposed 'aligninentas shown in Fig. 5.

Cooperating with the tie-back bracket 15 so as to anchor the curtain 11 to the casing 10, is a tie-back pin 35 of novel construction, as shown in Fig. 3. This pin 30 comprises a head 31 and a shank 32, the said shank having a bulbous portion 33 which is adapted to be received by the bowed portions 27 and 28 in locked engagement therewithin.

In using the present tie-back device, the bracket 15 is first fixedly attached to the window casing 10 on the side 13 thereof, as shown in Fig. 1. This may be accomplished by the use of suitable fastening means such as screws or nails received in the apertures 23 and 24 of the tab end portions 21 and 22, shown in Fig. 2.

With the bracket 15 thus attached, the tie-back 12 is looped around the curtain 11 until the two free ends thereof meet in end-to-end engagement with the curtain 11 gathered therewithin, as in Fig. 1. Next, the tieback pin 30 is inserted through the tie-back 12 and the shank 32 thereof inserted into the bracket 15 between the retaining walls 25 and 26 until the bulbous portion 33 thereof is received within the confines of the bowed portions 27 and 28 of said walls. When the bulbous portion 33 is thus received, the pin 30 will be substantially locked in the bracket 15.

To facilitate the location and insertion of the tie-back pin, the retaining walls 25 and 26 are provided with closely spaced indentations 29 which act as guides during the insertion and which further prevent vertical slippage of the pin within the bracket once the pin has been inserted. This is shown by Fig. 4, wherein a tie-back pin is shown in phantom with its bulbous portion 33 being received within the bowed portion 29 and its shank 32 lying within one of the indentations 29.

It is thus seen that a simple and inexpensive tie-back device is provided by this invention which not only eliminates the undesirable marring of the window casing woodwork, but also facilitates the hanging of curtains and draperies. It will also be noted that with a device of the type contemplated by the present invention, a degree of vertical adjustability of the tie-back may be achieved so as to provide a variety of drape effects, it often being desirable to change the vertical location of the tie-back, depending upon the seasons of the year. It should also be apparent that since the tie-back bracket is of one-piece construction, it can be easily and cheaply fabricated as a metallic stamping and bent or formed to the shape shown in the drawings.

A modified curtain tie-back bracket is shown in Figs. 6 and 7 and referred to by the numeral 34. This modified bracket 34 is also of a one-piece sheet metal construction and is of a substantially V-shaped configuration having side walls 35 and 36. At the open end of the V, the walls 35 and 36 are provided with inwardly extending flanges 37 and 38 which are substantially normal to the walls 35 and 36, respectively. The flanges 37 and 38 lie in overlapping relationship to one another and are provided with a plurality of aligned notches 39 along their edges which are adapted to receive a curtain tie-back pin in the manner described above. As in the tie-back bracket 15, the bracket 34 has a pair of anchoring tabs 40 and 41 having apertures 42 and 43 therein for receiving anchoring members such as screws or nails.

Although the present discussion of this invention has been limited to the above-described preferred embodiments, variations thereof are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not to be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but rather only to the inventive concept as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a curtain tie-back device intended for mounting on the side wall of a window casing, a one-piece bracket of generally U-shaped cross section and including parallel external side walls joined at one edge by a bend and having inturned flanges at the edges remote from said bend, said flanges being in opposed relation and formed with a series of confronting recesses any pair of which is adapted to detachably receive a tie-back pin, said side walls being relatively yieldable to permit the spreading of said flanges as an incident to insertion of a pin therebetween, and means on one of said walls for mounting said bracket on the side wall of said window casing in face-to-face engagement therewith.

2. In a curtain tie-back device intended for mounting on the side wall of a window casing, a one-piece bracket of generally U-shaped cross section and including parallel external sidewalls integrally joined at one edge by a bend and having inturned flanges at the edges remote from said bend, said flanges being in opposed relation and formed with confronting longitudinally extending grooves and series of confronting transverse recesses, a tie-back pin received in a pair of said recesses and formed with an enlarged portion received in said longitudinal grooves for yieldably holding said tie-back pin in position, and means at the opposite ends of one of said external walls for mounting said bracket on the side wall of said window casing in face-to-face engagement therewith.

3. In a curtain tie-back device intended for mounting on the side wall of a window casing, a one-piece bracket of generally U-shaped cross section and including parallel external side walls joined at one edge by a bend and having inturned flanges at the edges remote from said bend, said flanges being in opposed relation and formed with a series of confronting recesses any pair of which is adapted to detachably receive a tie-back pin, said side Walls being relatively yieldable to permit the spreading of said flanges as an incident to insertion of a pin therebetween, and angular tabs at the opposite ends of one of said external walls and integrally joined thereto for mounting said bracket on the side wall of said window casing with the external Wall carrying the tabs in faceto-face engagement therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,625,637 Abel Apr. 19, 1927 1,733,008 Foos Oct. 22, 1929 2,020,062 Jackson Nov. 5, 1935 2,059,483 Parsons Nov. 3, 1936 2,219,253 Cunningham Oct. 22, 1940 2,549,442 Fischer et a1 Apr. 17, 1951 2,584,224 Pfalfko Feb. 5, 1952 

